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When Ash and his friends returned to the dormitory lobby, everyone was smiling. But to Kai's surprise, the girl named Moé, the very opponent Ash had just battled, was tagging along with them.
"Huh? What's going on?"
Kai quickly pulled Misty aside and quietly asked what had happened.
That was when he learned the whole story: earlier in the morning, before entering the arena, Ash had run into Moé. She had originally approached to provoke him, wanting to see if he was worthy to be her opponent.
But right at that moment, Team Rocket struck. Ash's Pikachu and Moé's Vulpix were captured together. Thanks to Ash's quick thinking and the help of his other Pokémon, Team Rocket was defeated, and both Pikachu and Vulpix were rescued.
That single act completely won Moé over.
Even after losing her official match against Ash, she bore no resentment. Instead, her respect deepened and now, she was happily clinging to him as if she couldn't let go.
"I see." Kai couldn't help laughing. "Looks like Ash is starting to attract girls now!"
When he and Misty rejoined the group, Kai politely greeted Moé. Only then did Moé realize that Ash and Kai were actually close friends.
Still, since she was standing right there, Kai decided it wasn't the right time to tease Ash openly. He made small talk instead, letting things play out naturally.
Eventually, it was Misty who stepped in pretending she needed Moé's company to the restroom so that Ash and Kai could breathe freely again.
Kai shook his head with a wry smile. "Unbelievable… only you, Ash. No matter where you go, girls seem to fall for you."
Ash blushed, scratching the back of his head.
He wanted to retort, "Isn't Misty the same way around you?" But with both Kai and Misty nearby, not to mention Erika listening in, he wisely kept the thought to himself.
Seeing Ash's flustered state, Kai teased him further: "Why not just be straightforward and make her your girlfriend already?"
"W-what are you talking about…" Ash's face turned redder. He stammered, "I-I don't think that way… not yet, at least…"
Kai sighed, shaking his head. "Still just a kid, huh."
"That's enough," Erika finally intervened, seeing Ash's embarrassment. She gently tugged Kai back. "Don't tease him anymore he's still young."
With Erika's reminder, Kai dropped the subject. Instead, the two shifted the conversation toward today's matches.
Both Ash and Kai had finished their battles for the day, each securing a first-round victory. Spirits were high but the same couldn't be said for everyone. Around the lobby, plenty of trainers wore gloomy expressions, having tasted defeat.
For them, another loss meant total elimination from the Silver Conference.
"You really had a close call," Kai remarked. "You almost lost to Moé. Good thing Squirtle held out and even managed to beat Electabuzz at a type disadvantage."
"Yeah, it was tense," Brock agreed, nodding. "Watching from the sidelines, I was sweating bullets."
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Soon, more familiar trainers returned to the dorms.
Gary walked in first, looking as calm and composed as ever. With his backpack slung over one shoulder and chest puffed out, he didn't even glance at the others as he strode straight to the elevator. Clearly, his victory had been easy.
Right after came Harrison and Marina. The two were chatting and laughing together, and in high spirits, their battles had gone smoothly as well.
As for Jackson and Jimmy, their matches were scheduled for tomorrow, so they hadn't competed yet. That gave them the advantage of studying their group opponents' Pokémon ahead of time, allowing for more targeted preparations. Not entirely fair, perhaps but that was just how the tournament schedule worked.
Meanwhile, highlights of the day's most exciting battles were already spreading online. Several media outlets even released a "Top 5 Matches" list.
Curiously, not a single one of Kai's battles appeared. His overwhelming, one-sided victories had left little room for suspense or drama. They weren't exciting, just decisive.
Still, public interest in the preliminaries was sky-high. Many fans even rewatched the replays multiple times.
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The next morning, Kai again had no matches scheduled. Sitting in the audience, he watched Kimura face off against another trainer in their group a girl named Aoi.
Their battle was fierce. But in the end, Kimura's Magmar fell to Aoi's Feraligatr, marking Kimura's second consecutive loss. With that, he was officially eliminated from the Silver Conference, losing any chance to face Kai again for revenge.
Aoi's victory brought her score to three points, tying Kai. The two would now face off the following day in a decisive match the winner would advance to the Top 16, while the loser would be eliminated on the spot.
Leaving the stadium, Kai regrouped with his friends. By pooling information, they quickly pieced together more updates from the day's matches.
Jackson, for instance, had embarrassed himself during his battle with Moé. He tried to make a flashy entrance, tripped, and fell flat. Worse still, he lost the match outright.
That left Ash and Moé both with three points. If Ash defeated Jackson in his next match, he would advance. But if he lost, he and Moé would have to face each other again in a sudden-death tiebreaker.
Elsewhere, Jimmy had suffered a defeat today, but still had a chance to redeem himself in the next round.
And so, the second day of the preliminaries came to a close. Everyone now waits anxiously for the decisive matches tomorrow.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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